September 8, 2016
7 Ways to Be More Productive
For many PR Pros, the month of September ends up being the busiest time of the year. With back to school, year-end goals, and the upcoming year and holidays, work can tend to be a bit overwhelming. In order to handle this time of year, it is important to improve the way we work.
Here are a few tips to maximize your efforts:
- Don’t work overtime: Studies show if you lower your daily work hours from 10 to 8 and work 5 days a week, your productivity increases. There is no need to overwork yourself when the quality of work will not be up to your usual standards.
- Stop multitasking: While multitasking is a good skill to have, taking on too many jobs at once is not beneficial. You will complete the tasks at a slower pace, and make more mistakes along the way.
- Try to surround yourself with natural light: Working in a naturally lit place will most likely put you in a happier mood and keep you energized, thus making you more productive.
- Don’t be a perfectionist: According the research, there is a correlation between increased perfectionism and decreased productivity. Focus on completing the task as a whole the best you can, rather than focusing on perfecting every little detail.
- Go for a walk: Any exercise does the brain good. Walking in particular has been shown to increase people’s problem solving skills and creativity.
- Take a nap: A short nap can make you feel energized and recharges your brain. You’ll wake up alert and ready to start your next task.
- Work in sprints: Ideally, working for 90 minutes followed by a 20-minute break allows us to be more focused. Take those 20 minutes to go for a walk, or take a nap and you’ll be ready to go!
In the end, working smarter is more important than working harder. We need to prioritize better and have a good work-life balance in order to give 100% effort in every task we take on